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How to Choose The Right Feeder for the Birds You Want to Attract

How to Choose The Right Feeder for the Birds You Want to Attract

You want to bring birds to your own lawn and you know a bird feeder will help. But what type of feeder should you purchase? You should answer a few questions. What sort of birds are around in winter within my area? What sort of bird would I like to bring? Let us look at the kind of bird feeders available and the birds they attract.

Platform Feeders

The Platform Feeder will attract a high number of birds large and little and is basically a tray. This type of bird feeder will even give the unobstructed view of the fowl. The versatility of stage feeders is one reason they bring such a big variety of birds. They hang from a tree or can be put on or close to the ground, placed on a pole. Actually, they can also be set under another feeder to catch the seed that was falling. On the list of birds you'll be able to attract with a platform feeder are cardinals, titmice, juncos, jays, towhees, chickadees, native sparrows, and doves.

Suet Feeders

Suet is a wonderful addition to your bird feeding regime. Suet has a high fat content which is both delicious and nutritious to fowl and contains energy abundant nutrients. Suet feeders are wire cages into which a suet cake is slipped. Squirrels and other critters enjoy suet too so you may want to include a baffle to discourage the squirrels. There are squirrel proof suet feeders that have an extra cage round the suet feeder. Suet might also be fed in a feeder with the opening in the bottom. Most birds will eat upside down but squirrels and starlings won't. Squirrels will not eat suet that contains pepper but will be eaten by birds. 

Hopper feeders

Hopper feeders are big and bird friendly, especially to large birds. Huge birds like jays and woodpeckers are able to land on a hopper feeder and feed easily. Generally, hopper feeders carry more bird seed than other feeders. Thus, you do not need to refill them frequently. They may also be quite ornamental, looking in the manner of a chalet or a barn. They often have suet feeders and this could raise the kinds of birds coming to eat. Squirrel proofing these feeders could be accomplished by means of a counter balance system which shuts the seed opening when a squirrel gets in the feeder.

Tube Feeders

Tube feeders are the feeders seen usually in backyard. They're long tubes with feeding ports have perches that are short and located along and around. Tube feeders attract chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches and other small birds. Larger birds cannot use the perches that are short.

Globe Feeders

Globe feeders are less well-known than the others. The others are for attracting small birds like chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches and titmice. The others look somewhat just like a clear ball hanging in your tree. They are perch less to be able to eat and the fowl must cling to the underside. When a bird lands about Globe it feeders generally hang from a wire and whirl. You may use any of a number of types of seeds or seed mixtures.

Nyjer Feeders

Nyjer is excellent to feed small finches and other clinging birds. Nyjer seed is very small. One pound of seed may contain 10s of thousands of seeds. Open trays or platforms aren't preferred to be used with Nyjer because the expensive seed can too easily blow away or be eaten by less desirable birds. Traditional seed feeders such as hoppers or mixed seed feeders are also poor choices because they have larger feeding ports that will not control the seed flow economically.

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